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Archive for February 13th, 2012
Top Scientists Write Letter to Congress, Oppose Keystone
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on February 13th, 2012
Climate Central: With possible House and Senate votes on the Keystone XL pipeline looming, climate activists -- including several prominent climate scientists -- are once again rallying to oppose the oil pipeline. As The Hill newspaper reported this morning, Senate Republicans may attach an amendment to an unrelated highway spending bill that could come up for a vote as early as Tuesday. The amendment, sponsored by Sens. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and David Vitter (R-La.) would allow Congress to require...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Top Scientists Write Letter to Congress, Oppose KeystoneKeystone may be revived after U.S. election: Canada official
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2012
Reuters: The finance minister for Canada's top oil producing province of Alberta said he expects the Canada-to-U.S. Keystone XL pipeline project to be "revived" following presidential elections this year.
In an interview on Monday, Ron Liepert said he thinks government approval for the $7 billion pipeline to ship around 830,000 barrels per day of oil sands crude from Alberta to South Texas could come following elections on November 6.
But he said Keystone's delays, and the possibility it will not be...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keystone may be revived after U.S. election: Canada officialWash. Nuclear Cleanup Project Under Scrutiny
Posted by National Public Radio: Anna King on February 13th, 2012
National Public Radio: ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
And I'm Melissa Block. Now to the sprawling desert of eastern Washington state. The Hanford Nuclear Reservation is home to millions of gallons of radioactive waste left over from World War II and the Cold War.
These days, it's the federal government's largest environmental cleanup project and it's become a big headache. As we hear from Anna King of the Northwest News Network, the...
Can Europe Derail the Shale Gas Express?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Following numerous warnings issued by geologists, health scientists and environmental experts throughout the United States, Europe is now well aware of the high ecological and health risks associated with the exploitation of shale gas fields.
Yet, despite ample knowledge and strong public opposition from various local communities, the recently discovered shale gas deposits across Europe – in particular in France, Germany, and Poland – are highly coveted and will likely soon be exploited by the...
Student Push for Ban on Plastic Water Bottles Irks Industry Group
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2012
Yale Environment 360: Student groups on some college campuses are pushing their schools to ban the sale of plastic water bottles, a campaign that so far has prompted more than 20 colleges and universities to impose partial or complete bans. The bottled water industry has responded with a sarcastic video belittling the campaign. Student groups, citing environmental and health concerns of one-time bottle use, have worked with nonprofit groups like Ban the Bottle to have bottled water removed from vending machines and cafeterias...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Student Push for Ban on Plastic Water Bottles Irks Industry GroupE.Africa should be prepared for further food insecurity –weather forecasters
Posted by AlertNet: Katy Migiro on February 13th, 2012
AlertNet: East Africa, still battling a hunger crisis, should be prepared for another dry spell and further food insecurity due to the persistence of La Niña weather conditions that last year brought severe drought to the region, weather forecasters have warned.
"La Niña conditions are expected to persist until March to May 2012,' the World Meteorological Office said on its website on Sunday.
March to May is the main 'long rains' season for the region, which farmers and livestock herders depend upon...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on E.Africa should be prepared for further food insecurity –weather forecastersIs protecting the environment incompatible with social justice?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2012
Guardian: It is the stick with which the greens are beaten daily: if we spend money on protecting the environment, the poor will starve, or freeze to death, or will go without shoes and education. Most of those making this argument do so disingenuously: they support the conservative or libertarian politics that keep the poor in their place and ensure that the 1% harvest the lion's share of the world's resources.
Journalists writing for the corporate press, with views somewhere to the right of Vlad the Impaler...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Is protecting the environment incompatible with social justice?Cities must tackle rising flood risk – World Bank
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on February 13th, 2012
AlertNet: Urban areas have been badly affected by an increase in flooding around the world, underlining the urgent need to manage the growing risk in towns and cities, says a new World Bank guidebook.
"Urban expansion often creates poorer neighbourhoods which lack adequate infrastructure and services, making them more vulnerable to floods. The poor are hit hardest, especially women and children,' said Pamela Cox, the World Bank's vice president for East Asia and the Pacific.
"But rapid urbanisation also...
Can Smarter Growth Guide China’s Urban Building Boom?
Posted by Yale Environment 360: David Biello on February 13th, 2012
Yale Environment 360: Coal money, generated by one of the world’s largest open-pit mines, has built a new Ordos, a municipality in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia. A modern city is rising there from the steppes, featuring monumental government buildings, an imposing museum, and row after row of apartment buildings and subdivisions, all designed to accommodate more than a million new residents. Spacious roads wait for cars to zoom between residential and commercial areas or feed into the highway that leads to the...
How Much Ice Is Vanishing? You Don’t Want to Know
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2012
Climate Central: There isn't a doubt in the world (among serious scientists, anyway) that the sea has been rising for the past century, by about eight inches in total since 1900. There's little doubt, either, that the rise has been speeding up over the past couple of decades -- the water has been inching up about as twice as fast lately as it was for most of the 20th century.
All of that is a powerful confirmation of what thermometers tell us: that the Earth is warming -- the result, say those same...